Wong One of 15 on Wooden Award National Ballot
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Isaiah Wong of the University of Miami men’s basketball team is among the 15 elite selections to the Wooden Award National Ballot, as announced Saturday morning on ESPN College GameDay.
Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the National Ballot consists of the student-athletes who are candidates for the Wooden Award All American Team and Wooden Award Trophy as the most outstanding college basketball player in the United States.
A fourth-year junior guard, Wong is one of two ACC players on the list, alongside North Carolina’s Armando Bacot.
The duo is joined by Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis, Purdue’s Zach Edey, Indiana’s Trayce-Jackson Davis, UCLA’s Jaime Jacquez Jr., Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson, TCU’s Mike Miles Jr., Iowa’s Kris Murray, Penn State’s Jalen Pickett, Houston’s Marcus Sasser, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis and Kansas’ Jalen Wilson.
Wong is leading No. 16/15 Miami (23-6, 14-5 ACC) in points (16.2), assists (3.4) and steals (1.4) per game this season. He is also putting up 4.3 rebounds per outing, while shooting 45.1 percent overall, 38.9 percent on 3-pointers and 83.2 percent from the stripe.
A native of Piscataway, N.J., Wong is fifth on the Hurricanes’ all-time scoring list with 1,737 points across 124 appearances and possesses the ACC’s highest single-game point total this season (36 vs. Cornell on 12/7/22). He ranks top-10 in the league in points per game, steals per game, free-throw percentage and made free throws (114), plus sits top-15 in field-goal percentage and assists per game.
The two-time ACC Player of the Week owns 24 double-digit scoring performances this season, including nine with 20-plus points and three with 25-plus.
All balloted players have been certified by their university to meet or exceed the qualifications for the Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden when the Award was established. The qualifications include: candidates must exhibit strength of character, both on and off the court; candidates must be full-time students in an accredited NCAA college or university; candidates must be making progress toward graduation and have a cumulative 2.00 grade point average since enrolling in their school; candidates must contribute to team effort; candidates must excel in both offense and defense; and candidates should be considered on their performance over the course of the entire season.
Voting will take place March 13-20 and voters take into consideration a player’s entire season of play, as well as the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The finalists for the 2023 Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s will be announced on March 29.
Wong and the Hurricanes wrap up the regular season Saturday at 6 p.m. against No. 25 Pittsburgh, live on ACC Network from the Watsco Center, with the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament on the line.
To keep up with the University of Miami men’s basketball team on social media, follow @CanesHoops on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
